


Leave the Lights On

by LuckiestWitchAtHogwarts



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Songfic, hi i’m caulscott trash, im not good at writing this trope but we will see how it turns out, leave the lights on, leave the lights on by meiko
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 14:08:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22137355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuckiestWitchAtHogwarts/pseuds/LuckiestWitchAtHogwarts
Summary: Max didn’t snitch on Nathan in the Principal’s office following Kate’s attempted suicide, which intrigued him, and in turn, made her intriguing. Inspired by Meiko’s Leave the Lights On because music inspires me too much.
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Nathan Prescott
Comments: 28
Kudos: 81





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wow look at this another songfic who would’ve guessed! also i’m v sorry to have not updated my other fics recently it’s just been a busy few months with work and college which is now finished but i’m hopefully starting a new job soon which will again reduce my time writing but let’s blame the rest of my excuse on writer’s block!

Max shut the door of her dorm building behind her, careful to not make a sound. _Jesus, this day... just too insane. I need to see Chloe on the main campus. Poor Kate..._

The fireflies above her glowed in and out of existence as she moved through the courtyard. The lamp posts, minus the broken one that she made note of tell Samuel about in the morning, dimly lit the path to the gate where Max could just see Principal Wells drunkenly attempting to enter his dorm. Raising her hand, Max began to rewind time to sneak past him when she was pulled behind the wall, another hand covering her mouth. 

“Mmph!” 

“Caulfield, keep qui- OW, you bitch!”

Hearing Nathan’s voice, Max bit his hand in a panic and pushed out of his hold. 

“Nathan, what the hell are you doing? Trying to drug me next?”

“I didn’t-” Nathan paused to lower his voice, listening for the Principal, and continued, “I didn’t drug the Jesus freak, okay?”

“I’m sure Kate would beg to differ. She tried to _jump_ today, because of you and your stupid Vortex Club and-”

“So why didn’t you say anything today to the Principal about it then?”

“Why didn’t I...” Max’s mind drew a blank. “I... Cause she doesn’t have any solid proof...”

“No proof. Exactly. You can’t prove anything, Caulfield.”

Max couldn’t meet his eyes until that moment. The dim light in the courtyard softened his jawline and shadowed his already dark eyes, sunken from lack of sleep. 

“Are we done, Prescott?”

Nathan paused for a moment, leaning in slightly, speaking, “Not by a long shot, Max,” then turned and left for the boys’ dorm building. 

_What the actual fuck was that about?_

A little shaken, Max turned and found that the Principal had somehow made his way inside, and she herself made her way to the main campus. 

“Boo!” 

Max gasped loudly, turning and swinging with her right arm blindly, which was caught by a soft hand. 

“Woah, chill out dude!”

Chloe’s harsh voice cut into the air, dissuading Max’s panic immediately and lighting a fire in her. 

“What the hell, Chloe? Now is _so_ not the time for pranks, especially since I saved Kate from committing suicide today! God, you can be _so_ fuckin’ insensitive!”

The joking smile on her best friend’s face died a bit, before dropping completely as it was replaced with guilt. 

“Shit, Max... you’re right. Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

“Chloe, my powers failed today. I was in some kind of limbo, holding onto it as I got onto the roof with her. We can’t fuck around with it like this anymore.”

“Max, look, I’m sorry, what else do you want me to say? You’re some kind of superhero, of course I was excited to mess around with your power!”

“I know Chloe, but we can’t anymore, alright?”

“Yes, fine, I get it. Now,” Chloe pulled out a ring of keys and swung it around her pointer finger, “Let’s see what the Principal is hiding, shall we?”

“How did you get that? David-“

“-was fully prepared to hand the rest of his things in tomorrow, which left us no choice but to snoop around tonight. You ready?”

Max sighed. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Unlocking the main doors, Chloe and Max snuck through the halls of Blackwell with only two flashlights to light the way.

“Damn, it’s fuckin’ scary at night, hey?” Chloe’s somewhat nervous tone cut through the sound of the keys jiggling in the lock of the office. 

“No better than during the day.”

“Bet.” 

Moving to the next door, Chloe knelt down and started picking keys and shoving them in the lock, getting increasingly frustrated as none of them worked. 

“Shit, he was head of security! You’d think the head of security it would have a key to the Principal’s office! What now?”

“I think I have a plan...” Max said as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone, typing in Warren’s number. 

“Hey Warren, hypothetically... if I wanted to break into a locked room, how could I do that?”

After a few moments, Max hung up and her phone beeped a few times as Warren sent her the details, along with a concerned message. _It’s just hypothetical, Warren. Extra credit kinda thing for Ms Grant’s class,_ Max typed back. She turned to Chloe and said, “Okay, Warren gave me a way to blow open the door. I’m gonna go look for the ingredients, won’t be too long.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Well, now it is.”

Max heard Chloe snort as she left the office, phone in hand, and made a beeline for the science rooms. Checking her phone, she noted down what she needed mentally. _Sugar, soda, duct tape, sodium chloride. Sodium chloride? Where the fuck will I find that?_ Max rolled her eyes as she picked up the sugar from Ms Grant’s desk, then eyed a textbook on one of the benches. _That should tell me what sodium fucking chloride is, thanks Warren. Weed killer. Okay, yeah that is definitely kept inside and not in Samuel’s shed._ Max walked to the back of the room and looked at the skeleton. _I_ _guess_ _you can’t smoke your lungs away if you don’t have lungs,_ Max thought as she snapped a picture. She spotted duct tape on another bench on her way out and picked it up, making half-hearted circles around her arm with it playfully. Max made her way to the nearest soda machine and popped in a quarter, flinching slightly as the machine rumbled and dropped the can. _Now, where might I find that weed killer?_ Max idly wandered through the halls, in and out of classrooms until she found a high cabinet with a container marked “Weed Killer”. _Plain as day... or night, I guess._ Max pulled over a stool and knelt up on it to get it down. All four items now in her possession, she headed back to find Chloe still trying to pick the lock. 

“Not enough time spent with Frank?”

“Too much time with that fucker, more like. You got them all?”

“Somehow. Let’s blow this shit up.”

Setting up the bomb, Max stepped back as Chloe lit the fuse with her lighter and they ran to hide. The pipe bomb blew, blowing the door to the Principal’s office wide open. 

“Yes!” _Whooooooop. Whoooooop._

“Fuck. Quick Max, what do we do?”

“Shit, hold on!”

Ducking her head as her ears rang with the alarm, she stepped inside the Principal’s office and rewound. The door swung closed and bathed the room in darkness, and Chloe’s irritated voice could be heard mumbling on the other side of the door. 

“Gotta get this done before she’s back and she can’t rewind on me...”

Opening the door with a flourish, Max stood aside as Chloe almost lost balance and fell inwards.

“Tada!”

“Damnit Max, did we get in and you rewound on me?”

“Unless you wanted to be caught by the fire and police departments, I’m sure I did you a favour. Now let’s see what’s here...”

* * *

”Shit, Max, that was _gold_! I still can’t believe you totally snitched on him to Mom!”

“It wasn’t so much like that Chloe... he was going off on you for no reason.”

“There kinda was a reason, he just couldn’t prove it,” Chloe giggled, her smile just as cynical as usual but gleaming with pride. 

“That was pretty funny. Still, Joyce doesn’t deserve this.”

“Oh who cares, he brought it on himself. Anyways, we need to check out Prescott’s room later, yeah? See if Kate’s drugging has a link to Rachel disappearing.”

“Yeah, after classes okay? He leaves campus most days after class.”

“Creepy, you know his schedule.”

Max blanched a little, thinking back to the previous night, then recovered. “Chloe, his SUV peels out of here minutes after the last bell. It’s not hard to hear from the main building.”

She snorts as a reply. “See you later Max. And see if his truck has anything on this!”

Slamming the door shut, Max took a few hasty steps back and watched as Chloe skidded out of the parking lot, reminiscent of their escape the night before, then turned and made her way for the dorm. She was pretty proud of herself for not giving into Chloe’s demands that she join her for swimming, and was glad that her clothes weren’t stinking with chlorine. _Now that’s a decision I wouldn’t be able to take back. Ugh..._

Max’s head began to swim, red spots appearing at the edges of her vision as she stumbled into the dorm’s courtyard, which was empty in the early hour. _No... not now..._ Blood began to drop from Max’s nose as her head began aching, pounding and flashes of the impending storm broke through her vision. _Just... hold on...._

”Max!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow hi thank you for the kudos and comment so far! I'm really enjoying writing LTLO and I hope you enjoy this next chapter! it's kinda going off of the canon path cause I wrote this while I didn't have internet and couldn't reference the game for actual plot lines sooooooo yeah haha

_Flashes of the storm in between darkness appeared in Max’s vision. Max woke up and found herself on the path to the lighthouse once again._ No... why am I here? I know what I have to do! _Making her way up the hazardous path to the lighthouse, Max rewound where she needed to to avoid obstacles and found herself at the top of the hill again. Looking over the cliff, she watched as the tornado begin to hit the coast of Arcadia Bay, destroying the town she grew up in._

“ _Max!_ ” _Max’s head snapped towards the noise, only to find Nathan now below her, his grip slipping from the cliff. “_ Please _, help me!” Horror spread through her body as she dropped and thrust out a hand towards him._

_“Nathan, I can’t reach!”_

_“Max!”_

Sitting up fast, Max gasped, out of breath and held a hand to steady her heart and found the other trapped underneath something soft. Looking down, she found a head on top of her hand, attached to a body that was asleep against her bed. Nathan. 

_What the fuck... how did I... what?_

“Nathan... Nathan?”

She shook the still-trapped hand slightly, before removing it out form under him, and looked around. Her bedside table clock, now surrounded with half-bloodied tissues, showed half past two as the time. _Fuck... how did I miss most of the day? They usually only last a few minutes..._

Looking down at Nathan again, fear set in as she realised what had happened. 

_Ohmygodwhatthefuckohmygodohmygodohmy-_

“Nathan, wake up!”

Max’s panicked shout shocked Nathan awake, who jumped and darted his head around, looking for the voice. 

“Whateverthefuck? Max?”

“Nathan, what happened?”

“I think I should be asking you that. You passed out in the courtyard, your face was like covered with blood. What the fuck happened?”

“I... I don’t know, i-it hasn’t happened before...”

“Bullshit it hasn’t happened before. That kind of thing doesn’t happen just out of the blue.”

“Out of the blue, like you bringing me to my room, and _staying_? Why did you stay?”

“You needed someone to, who else would? I sure as shit wasn’t going to be responsible for your death.”

Max averted her eyes from him and turned her gaze to her photo wall, still vandalised with his message. Nathan followed her eyes, looking up the at the wall, and sighed. 

“I’m... sorry... about that.” 

Max snapped her head back to him, not unlike in her vision. 

“You’re _what_?”

“God, I’m sorry, okay? Want me to clean it off?” He rolled his eyes, and cleaned up the tissues into her wastebin next to the door. 

“Yes please,” Max’s meek voice broke through his second or third sigh of the day and he glanced at her. 

“I’ll bring something by to clean it with. What gets paint off of polaroids?” She shrugged, and he looked back at the wall. “I’m taking this photo. It’s not as shitty as the others.”

Max caught a glimpse of the photo Nathan pulled from near the bottom of the wall, catching a whiff of his cologne as he leant over her. It was, funnily enough, the photo she took in Mr Jefferson’s class moments before he shot Chloe in the bathroom. She shuddered slightly, but she wasn’t sure if it was the memory or because of Nathan’s close proximity. 

She let go of a breath she didn’t know she was holding, lying back down and covered her eyes with her hands. She heard scribbling of a pen on paper, then the pen being set down next to her. 

“Do me a favour, and don’t pass out again, Caulfield,” she heard just before the door to the hallway open and shut. The temperature in the room seemed to rise again with Nathan’s lack of presence, and Max carefully sat up. Looking over to her bedside table, she noticed a scrap of paper with the initial “N”, and a line of numbers. Next to it, her phone began buzzing with a call from Chloe. Picking it up, Max spoke, “Chloe?”

“Jesus, dude, I’ve been calling for ages! What happened?”

“I kinda passed out again... but Na- Dana helped me back to my room. I skipped classes today.” Max was definitely _not_ about to tell Chloe that the person who almost shot her, helped her out. 

“Shit... how’re you feeling?”

“Better now... it was just the same vision again. The tornado was crashing into town and I was at the lighthouse. What’s up?”

“I think we should check out Frank’s RV. I wanna see if he has anything else of Rachel’s. Hah, gift my ass.” 

“Now?”

“Yes, now, while he’s at the diner. His RV will be parked there. I’ll be there in 10?”

“Alright... as long as we can get some of Joyce’s pancakes. Smile emoji.”

“Fuck off with your emojis,” Chloe mumbled before hanging up, leaving Max in giggles. She slid off of her bed, grabbing her bag that was placed neatly at the end of her bed and put Nathan’s number in her phone before dropping it in her pocket. Glancing in the mirror, she left her dorm. 

Quiet was one way to describe the empty hall. Eerie, another. Max felt strange skipping classes even though she had a valid reason. _Did Nathan though? I mean, he stayed with_ me _of all people... I’m certainly not Victoria._ Shaking the thoughts from her head, she left the building and met Chloe in the parking lot, slamming the door as she made a U-turn and peeled out of the lot. 

“So, your Vortex friend Dana-”

“What about her?” Max asked, almost too quickly. 

“She helped you back to your dorm?”

“Oh, y-yeah, she did...”

Max felt almost ashamed to keep more secrets from Chloe. 

“Yeah, anyways, didn’t you say she sleeps in cause her classes are late? What was she doing up?”

_Shit_. “Uh, she does yoga? Keeps her centred for classes or something...”

Chloe snorted. “Fancy. Something a Vortex Club member would do.”

Max giggled. “Well it works, maybe I should join her.”

“God, the Vortex club?”

“No, dumbass, yoga.” 

Chloe pulled into the Two Whales parking lot and shut the engine off, then turned to face Max. “Okay, what’s the plan, O’ Master of Time?”

Max blinked. “You don’t have a plan?”

“What, I have to do everything around here?”

“I don’t know Frank like you do!”

“You don’t want to know Frank like I do. How about you go inside and find a way to grab his keys, maybe talk to people to get info on him and rewind and talk to him and you can... just... I don’t know, just go get the keys. He has a mutt that I’ll distract.”

Max rolled her eyes. _Trust Chloe to make me use my powers again today._

Max opened the truck door and made her way into the diner. The greasy scent of bacon coagulated with the sugary smell of maple syrup hit her immediately, making Max feel at home. Glancing around, Max spotted Frank in a booth in by the window, a plate of beans on the bench and a small, dirty bag on the booth seat next to him. His ragged appearance made Max nervous, as she remembered how she couldn’t shoot him in the junkyard. She put on her toughest face, thinking of Victoria, and made her way over to him. 

“Frank.” 

He glanced up, scoffing when he noticed her. 

“Thelma. Where’s Louise?”

“She’s... around. I need to speak with you.”

“Right. You come here and demand to speak with me while I’m trying to eat my beans? Fuck off.”

Max felt like she hit a wall. She took a step back from Frank and looked around the diner. At the bar sat a police officer and a trucker, a few seats apart. _Maybe the police officer has some insider tips on Frank..._

“Hello, Officer. How are you?”

“Max Caulfield. You’re quite the legend down at the station. I am doing just fine, thank you for asking.”

“I only did what any good friend would do, sir.”

“Miss Marsh is very lucky to have you as a friend, then. It’s a shame about the circumstances that led to it.”

“You mean, with Nathan Prescott?”

“Oh, just most of the students at Blackwell. I wouldn’t get mixed up in that crowd, if I were you, Max.”

“I’m doing my best sir. Um, what can you tell me about Frank Bowers?”

“Native to the Bay, another person you should stay away from. He sells to most of the crowd at Blackwell that Miss Marsh was caught up in. Quite unfortunate, if you ask me. He used to be such a good kid... but I’ve said enough. Now, would you mind leaving me to my breakfast?” He turned back to his plate.

_A good kid, huh?_

Rewinding, Max took a few steps back to reapproach the police officer. 

“Hello, Officer. How are you?”

“Max Caulfield. You’re quite the legend down at the station. I am doing just fine, thank you for asking.”

Max felt her way through time to forward the conversation to where she needed. 

“Um, can you please tell me about how Frank used to be? I just can’t believe how one of my best friends was caught up with him...”

“Ah, sad but classic story with him. His mother fell sick and he starting selling drugs on the side of school to pay for her treatment. Eventually he was kicked out of school and he dealt full time. Around the same time he rescued that dog of his from a fighting ring, actually. Wouldn’t want to be caught up with him now, trust me. Now, would you mind leaving me to my breakfast?” He turned back to his plate again. 

_Bingo!_

Feeling triumphant, Max rewound again, starting to feel a little lightheaded, and headed back to Frank.

“What the fuck do you want now? I just wanna eat my beans.”

“I heard you rescued your dog, Pompidou? I love dogs. Can I grab him from your RV for a pat?”

“He would rip your arm clean off. You don’t want to pat him anyway, you want _these_.”

Frank pulled out his keys and dangled them in front of Max before dropping them on the table unceremoniously. 

“I can see the way your eyes dilat- what the fuck?”

“I’ll be taking those now, thanks."

Max leant over and grabbed them, walking away. 

“You’re not fuc-“

Max raised her hand to rewind again, slipping the keys in her pocket and erasing all of the conversations with Frank from time. Heading outside, she found Chloe next to the door holding a bone. She chucked it to Max, who barely caught it and threw the keys haphazardly to Chloe. 

“Stand back.”

Max took a few steps back as Chloe jingled the keys in the lock, and Pompidou came bursting out, barking at Max. Quickly thinking, she threw the bone towards the other side of the lot and slipped inside with Chloe on her tail. 

Immediately, Max noticed a lack of a certain scent. Expecting Frank’s home to resemble his livelihood, Max was surprised to find it smelling mostly of beer and pizza, then the telltale hint of beans from the diner. _Fucking beans. Fuck Frank and his beans._

_“_ Wow. Imagine us speeding down the coast of Big Sur in this thing!”

“Chloe, we need to focus before Frank notices his keys are missing. I had to rewind for this!”

Chloe paused, and Max could feel her disappointment despite knowing she wouldn’t dare steal Frank’s RV. “I know... I was just... daydreaming.”

“How about you check the laptop? I’ll look through his cupboards ‘n’ shit.”

“Alrighty, ’Big Frank’, what have we got in here?” 

Max headed down the RV, searching through his cupboards then replacing things to cover her tracks. She figured she would leave rewinding as a last resort in case she passed out again. When she reached Frank’s bed, she dropped and peeled underneath, only to find empty pizza boxes and a few bottles of beer, one or two still half-full. _So we found the source of something, but not of his work. Jesus._ Max kept looking around at floor-level and noticed that the light in the vent had some shadows. Remembering passing by a knife, she took it from the kitchen and levered the vent off of the wall, which came off with a metallic _pop!_

“Holy shit... Chloe, look at this.”

Max walked to the mini-booth Chloe was sitting in and dropped the pile of papers that she found in the vent on top of the laptop. Chloe started sifting through the papers, moving Frank’s number work aside and pulling out a photo of Rachel in her lingerie. 

“What the fuck? She lied to me! Jesus, I can’t _believe_ she would do this to me!”

“Chloe, what if she really liked Frank?”

“Wow, cause that makes a world of difference now. Where is she? He’s probably why she’s missing! Everyone in my life fucks off eventually. God, I can’t believe her!”

Chloe picked up the papers, tossing a few aside and finding a letter addressed to “Frankie B.”

“What is this shit?”

“I-I don’t know...”

“She wrote him a _love letter_ , Max. How long has she kept this from me?”

“Chloe, grab the papers and let’s go, okay? We’ll take a look at them soon.”

Max brought the papers back into a neat pile, took Chloe by the arm and dragged her from the RV. 

“Wait.”

Chloe shook her arm from Max’s loose grip and threw the keys as hard as she could, landing them on the top of the building opposite the diner. 

“Now, we can go.”

Chloe stormed to her truck, barely letting Max in before making a sharp turn and leaving a skid mark on the tarmac. After a few beats of silence Chloe spoke up, with a clipped tone, “So, what do we know?”

“Uh, Rachel was with Frank-“

“Yeah, fucking obvious. What’s the connection?”

“What?”

“The connection, between Kate and Rachel.”

“Oh, uh, m-maybe Nathan bought the drugs from Frank? To give to Kate?”

“Makes sense, since he sells to half of the other shitheads at that school. Let’s search his room.”

“Not today, alright? I’m feeling sick after... everything.”

“Fine, I need to medicate anyways. I’ll drop you in front of the school. That cool?”

“Yeah... cool.”

The rest of the ride was silent, tension thicker than a bowl of oatmeal and Max was almost relieved when she left the cab of the truck when they arrived at Blackwell. 

“Text me when you’re ready,” was all Chloe said before she pulled out of the parking lot. Instead, Max pulled out her phone and texted Nathan. 

_Can we go to the lighthouse? I need to tell you something. Max_

Max wasn’t exactly sure what she was ready to tell Nathan, but she wasn’t ready to be back on campus. Almost immediately, her phone pinged with a reply. 

_My truck is the red one. Meet there in 5_.

Max felt nervous. Was she really about to get into an enclosed vehicle with Nathan-fucking-Prescott? Literally, the person she watched kill her best friend. _And put me to bed after I passed out..._ Was she actually trying to justify spending time with _Prescott_? She lifted her phone back into eyesight to text Nathan to forget it when a rough hand gripped her arm and pulled it towards the red truck double-parked a few spaces down from her. 

“Just me.” Somehow, his low voice didn’t reassure her, as she struggled to get her arm out of his hold. 

“Nathan, let-“

“If we’re going, we’re going quickly. Can’t let anyone see me with _you_.”

_Ouch_. “As if I want to be seen with you either, Prescott.”

“Whatthefuckever.”

He released her arm when they got to his truck, opening the door then heading around to the drivers’ side. Max, again, was stunned. _Can’t say chivalry is dead, I guess. Wait, chivalry?_

“Are you fucking coming or not? This was your idea, Caulfield.”

“Yeah, shit, sorry.” _Cool, Max. Just stare at him while he acts normal and actually gets in the truck_. Max hurried up into the cab of the truck and Nathan pulled out of the parking lot. 

Driving with Nathan was an experience Max really wish she didn’t have. Light swerving in the lane mixed with a few “oh shit, sorry”’s and him lighting a joint halfway through the ride was enough to set her on edge by the time they reached the parking area of the lighthouse. 

“You really couldn’t wait until we got here?”

“You stress me out, Caulfield.”

_You’re about to be a hell of a lot more stressed._ “Whatever, then. Follow me.”

Max started without checking to see if Nathan was following- not that she needed to, she could smell the distinct bittersweetness of the drug wafting towards her as she trudged up the hill. As they reached the apex, Nathan stopped to ground the ashes with his shoe, before standing next to Max with a foot of ground between them. 

“So...?”

“You see the town?” Max pointed to what she thought was the Two Whales, though from the distance they were it could’ve been anything.

“Yes...?”

“I’ve had a recurring vision this week that our town will be destroyed on Friday, via a massive fucking tornado and it’s my responsibility to stop it.”

Nathan flinched, glancing up and down at Max, before dryly laughing, “You’re fucking weird, Max.”

“It’s true!”

“Oh, and while we’re at it, your little punk bitch girlfriend is going to be let back into Blackwell? Before or after the storm wipes the town out?”

“Fuck off, Nathan,” Max spat, “I’m only telling you because it happened today. When I passed out. But it was... different this time.”

“Different, how?” Max felt like he was only humouring her at this point, but she might be getting through to him. 

“You were there,” Max unfolded her arms from defensive position and pointed to the ground by the bench, and Nathan glanced at her again. 

“There as in...”

“...half way off the cliff. Needing _my_ help.”

He gave a low whistle. “You’re on some other shit, Caulfield. Who’s your dealer? ‘Cause Frank wouldn’t-“

“Shut up, Nathan. Just... stop.”

Max walked over to the bench and dropped wearily, cradling her head.

He stood around idly before joining her on the bench. 

“You’re serious? About the storm?"

“Yes, I’m totally serious. I think it’s to do with the snow and the eclipse as well. All of the weird weather...”

“It is pretty fuckin’ weird.”

Max just sighed in response, and there they sat in silence for a while, Nathan glancing over at her every once and a while while she stared over at the town, chin resting in her hands that were propped up on her knees as she was leant forward. 

Max could sincerely say she didn’t know how she fucked with time enough to get to this position. Sitting outside the lighthouse, exactly where she would watch the storm crash into her town, with the uncomfortable company of Nathan Prescott by her side. Tension grew thicker with each moment of silence and she could hear him fidget and squirm slightly. 

“So... what do we do?”

Max’s mind went blank as she leaned back to look at him. 

“We?”

“Yeah, we. I don’t want to end up over the cliff, and I don’t want Arcadia Bay to be destroyed either. It’s my home, as much as I hate it.”

“I-I... we, I-”

“You’re the Time Master, Caulfield. What do we do?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not to toot my own horn but I think this chapter is the single best thing I've ever written tbh

“Nathan?”

“What?”

They were sitting on the bench outside the lighthouse, overlooking the town. The strong scent of salt coming from the bay mixed with the pine from the forest behind them and filled their senses as a gentle breeze flowed around them. Birds chirping and the sound of waves crashing filled the air with ambiance and made Max feel less alone, despite having another person as company. Nathan didn’t really count to her, yet.

“What do you think will happen if we can’t stop the storm?”

“Then we all die, I guess. How far can you go back with your power?”

“Only a couple of minutes.”

“So that’s out of the question then. Have you changed anything big yet?”

The casual way he said it, even turning his head to face her, put Max even more on edge. She was definitely not about to admit that she stopped him from killing Chloe.

“O-Only a few things… I wouldn’t call them major changes though.”

“Did you stop Kate from jumping yesterday?”

Another secret she would keep for now.

“Not with my powers, no. But I did.”

“Hmm.” He turned his head back to face the water. 

“Nathan, I don’t really have a plan to stop the storm. How is a person supposed to stop a hurricane from crashing into a town?”

“Same way you stopped Kate from jumping yesterday. You just try.”

“I don’t think ‘just trying’ will get us anywhere.”

“Well, what the fuck am I supposed to say? I’m not the one with the powers, Caulfield. And like I said before, I don’t want to end up over the side of the cliff.”

“I know, alright? But it’s a whole-ass hurricane!”

“God, I know. Whatever.”

They sat in a moment of silence, before Max spoke again, more timidly, “Can we go back to campus now? Please?”

“Whatever.” Nathan stood up and turned to walk back to his truck. Max thought he was walking so fast he may as well have been running away from her.

* * *

“Nathan?”

“Jesus, what now, Max?"

“Thank you for believing me.”

“Are you going to prove it? Your time rewind thing?”

“Prove it? How do you want me to do that?”

“Fuckin’ umm…” He lowered his eyes, shifting them around and started patting down his pockets. “Uhhh, tell me what’s in my pockets?”

“Okay then.” They both paused, staring at each other. ‘Well, empty them. This is the first loop, I don’t know what’s in them.”

He rolled his eyes and took each item out one by one. Max counted his truck keys, three dimes and two pennies, and two halves of a speeding ticket. Of course it’s torn up.

“So? Do your thing.”

She rolled her eyes in reply, raised her hand, and felt the wind pick up around her as she pulled herself back.

“Are you going to prove it? Your time rewind thing?”

“Yes, in your pockets are your truck keys, three dimes, two pennies and a speeding ticket torn in two. Nice, by the way.”

Nathan raised his eyebrows as he haphazardly removed the items from his pocket.

“What the fuck, Caulfield…”

Max felt a bit more confident, and in the mood to fuck with him, and rewound again, but back to them getting out of the truck.

“Max? How the fuck did you get there so fast?"

“Nathan, in your pockets are three dimes, two pennies, and a torn-up speeding ticket. You haven’t put your keys away yet so I didn’t include them this time around.”

“This time? The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Am I wrong, though? Check your pockets, Prescott.”

He sputtered, tripping over his words and brought out the items, Max almost laughing at his expression.

“You’re fucking crazy, Caulfield.”

“But now you believe me,” she smiled at him, almost smirking, as she turned and headed for her dorm.

“Wait, Max-“

“We’ll talk later, alright? I have to go see someone!” She called back to him, fully intending to go take a nap before dinner instead. What had seemed like a short time out together to them ended with arriving back at school at five in the evening.

* * *

But Max couldn’t sleep, still an hour or two later. She fed Alice, watered Lisa (and prayed it would make her leaves a little greener), strummed the strings on her guitar for a bit until she finally picked up the photo of her and Chloe, the day her father died. 

Staring into it, the edges seemed to blur, and Max could hear the younger Chloe’s voice as if it wasn’t a distant memory. She focused harder on the photo, as it blurred in and out of focus, until the voices grew louder and she felt herself being sucked into the photo, and a white light blinded her.

“Someday, Dad will get one of those newfangled computers!”

“I hope the flash didn’t scare you, Max. This is a keeper!”

“Not until I see it! Max, tell him... woah, you’re totally pale, are you okay?”

_How far did I travel back?! William is alive? What the fuck is going on?!_

“Yeah, I just.. um, yeah, I’m fine…”

_I even sound like 13-year-old me! Am I that far back in time?_

“Okay Chloe, give me the thumbs-up or thumbs-down…”

“Hmm, I might just let it into the family album!”

_Chloe was so happy and full of life… think, what happened next?_

“You mean pancakes?”

“In French, they call them "crepes”. And a good French chef needs his assistants if you want to eat breakfast!”

“ _Oui_. I volunteer to break the eggs!”

Max turned from Chloe and William as she went to explore the living room. The atmosphere felt cold, the light from outside fighting to get past clouds in the sky, and felt overall unrecognisable to Max. Unnatural. This is not the home I remember.

The phone rang. “Hm, I’ll go answer that… oh, hey honey.”

_Shit! No no no no no… I’m not letting him die today. Where are his keys?_

As inconspicuous as possible, Max casually wandered around the living room, moving things around until she found the keys under his hat on the coffee table. Darting her eyes around, she ran up behind Chloe, dropping them in the sink of soapy water, and threw her arms around her. 

“Max? What are you doing?” She giggled, grabbing her hands.

“Just because you’re awesome, okay?” The house around her started fading into white. “We’re awesome…”

Images of Chloe’s original childhood burned up and changed while Max was in limbo. Different memories flew by her as they changed with Max’s decision and she suddenly woke up again, looking around at the people around her, and locking eyes with Victoria, who was sitting next to her.

“Helloooooo, Maxine? Did you get high without me?”

“It’s Max, _never_ Maxine.”

“Right, sorry forgot. Lol.”

“I told you we shouldn’t’ve let her into the Vortex Club!”

Max whipped her head towards the voice, almost offended, before another cut in.

“Courtney, you don’t want anyone to join the club.”

“Like whatever, bitch."

Max shook her head lightly and made to stand when another voice cut in.

“Max? You okay?”

Out of instinct, she replied, hella annoyed, “I’m fine, Prescott.”

The group quietened, and Nathan was taken aback.

“Did… did I do something wrong?”

“What?”

“Did I do something wrong? You only call me Prescott when you’re mad at me."

“I…” _Shit, different reality, Max_. “N-no, Nathan. Sorry, I’m just tired and spaced out. I didn’t mean it.”

“Are you sure? Do you want to talk about it?”

“Uh, not right now. But later, I…” _Think. How did we get here? Photo, uh, focus, polaro- Chloe!_ “I’m sorry, I have to run."

Max stood up so fast she became lightheaded, running to the bus stop, almost stopping when she saw Warren and Stella together. They don’t even really talk… how did this happen? Then again, anything could happen. I’m in the damn Vortex Club now.

She was gasping for breath as she arrived at the same time the bus did and found a seat near the middle. She stared out the window, looking for any other changes in the town as she traveled to Chloe’s. 

Idle chatter flowed through the bus, but Max had zoned it out, preferring to listen to music through her earphones. She couldn’t see any visible changes to the town, but the vibe was lighter and felt more like home to her than it had in the first timeline. Finally, the bus had ground to a stop at the stop closest to Chloe’s. Max made her way off and sped her way to the Price house.

The first thing she could smell was the roses, the roses that had died in the front garden in the original timeline. Roses, among other flowers, were scattered in the garden bed lining the front yard; a cheerful welcome to any guests. The grass was a rich green, well taken care of and the house was painted a brilliant blue with a pure white trimming, a job left half-finished before William died. Another change was the lack of Chloe’s beat-up truck in the driveway. Max cautiously walked along the path to the house and knocked tentatively.

“Well, look who it is! My gosh Max, we thought we’d never see you again after you left for the big city.” William’s warm voice welcomed Max with happiness, something she had dearly missed. When he was around, she could not be upset about anything.

“I could never do that to Chloe, or you and Joyce. It is so great seeing you, William,” Max replied with earnest.

“Ah, but you’re not here to see me,” he said as he turned and called, “Chloe! You have a visitor!”

Max’s gaze moved to behind William, waiting to see Chloe. Shockwaves flooded her body, and she widened her eyes as Chloe wheeled in, bound to a wheelchair and depending on a tube in her throat to breathe. Her head was secured with two poles on either side of her head to ensure she didn’t stay up.

“C-Chloe… I-“

“Max… it is so good to see you."

_How… did I do this to her? This… I can’t believe this…_

“Chloe, I’ve missed you so much!” She made her way to Chloe and wrapped her arms gently around her, afraid she might break her.

“I wish I could hug you back… I can’t even feel you, but I appreciate it,” Chloe whispered in her ear.

Max released her, and Chloe suggested they take a walk by the beach. Max looked at William, who agreed to let them out. “I trust you, Max.”

_I wouldn’t trust me. I did this to her..._

* * *

Walking alongside Chloe, she felt her phone buzz. She elected to ignore it, but Chloe said, “My ears still work, Max. You can answer your phone, I won’t be offended or anything.” 

“No, Chloe, I came to spend time with you. Whoever it is can wait.”

“You sure? What if it’s your boyfriend?”

That made her stop in her tracks. “My _what now_?”

“Um, your boyfriend? Nathan Prescott? I can still see social media, don’t pretend you aren’t with him. It may have been a few years but you couldn’t ever lie to me,” she started out annoyed but finished with a teasing tone.

Max blinked slowly. “…Right, yes, I should check that then.” She took her phone out of her pocket, and sure enough, the name on notification was Nathan, accented with a heart emoji. _Gag me_.

Nathan ❤️: Max, where are you?

Nathan ❤️: Please answer, you’re starting to worry me.

Nathan ❤️: You never just disappear like this…

Nathan ❤️: Just let me know you’re okay.

_Nathan Prescott, worried about some hippie freak?_

Max: I’m fine, I’ll be back at school soon.

Nathan ❤️: Thank you.

“Everything okay?”

Max, regretfully, forgot Chloe was there. “O-Oh, yeah, it’s okay. He just didn’t know where I was. I kinda ran off on the Vortex Club to come see you.”

“Aw, you ditched the rich squad for lil' old me? Friends for life, I guess.”

Max couldn’t tell if that was sarcastic or genuine, or who it was even aimed at with her last comment, but she felt the need to explain anyways. “I don’t know why I’m really friends with them honestly, they’re not that nice."

“Not wrong there. Let’s change the subject, I don’t wanna about those douchebags.”

“Do you mind if I ask... how it happened?”

“I, uh, don’t really remember. I was driving home from the Two Whales, that bastard T-boned me, and as I skidded off the road I felt my back snap. Last thing I ever felt. Then I woke up in the hospital. But I’ll never forget his eyes, blue and wide and almost as terrified as me.”

“God, Chloe, I-“

“I don’t need pity Max. I might need to go home though, my nose is getting cold. That alright with you?”

“Yeah, of course it is. Let’s go.”

* * *

After settling in for their Blade Runner marathon, with Chloe back in her bed and Max laying her head next to her, Max felt her phone vibrate again. 

Nathan ❤️: You still haven’t come back yet

Nathan ❤️: Please let me know where you are, I’ll come get you.

Max: Change of plans, I’m staying the night at my friend Chloe’s house. 

Nathan ❤️: Price?

Max: Yes?

_Nathan ❤️ is calling..._

_What the fuck, Prescott?_

_“_ Nathan, why are you calling?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you went to hers?”

“What does it matter to you, you don’t even like her!” Max did her best to keep the volume down, as Chloe had already fallen asleep, but her temper was rising.

“It _does_ matter, okay? It just does!”

“Why can’t you be honest with me? Chloe was my best friend before I moved away, obviously I would want to reconnect with her!"

“Yeah, so obvious, it took you a month.”

Max felt like she had been stabbed, and retaliated with blind anger. This Nathan Prescott was familiar to her. “At least _I_ didn’t ruin her life and break her spine, _Prescott_."

There was silence over the phone, minus the phone static, before she heard a strangled noise.

“Nathan?”

“Why… how did you know, Max? I-It was an accident…” he sobbed.

“Nathan, she knows. She remembers your eyes.”

“She- _oh my god_ , I-I can’t…”

“Nathan, do you need me to come see you?” She couldn’t believe she said it, but she felt the need to play along in this timeline.

“P…Please…” She heard him whisper before he hung up.

Max was conflicted. Wake Chloe up and let her know she had to leave, or write a note with her number and let her know what had happened? Looking between the door and Chloe’s sleeping face, she elected to leave a hastily scribbled note, and snuck out of the house, into the dark.

* * *

Max caught the last bus of the night back to Blackwell. Avoiding the campus security, she crept her way to the boys’ dorm, making sure the door didn’t creak as she opened and closed it. She made her way up the stairs to the senior floor, checked the map for Nathan’s room, and made her way there. She hesitated, standing at the door for a moment, before quietly knocking.

As he opened the door, she gasped lowly. His eyes were red and swollen, his smooth skin pale and his pajamas hanging loosely on his frame.

“Nathan, you-“

“Your pajamas are on the end of the bed. I’ll wait outside.”

_Sorry, my_ what?

“O-Okay, thank you…”

He let her in and slipped out, closing the door and leaving her in his room. A projector overhead was playing a black and white slideshow of his photos, and various photo frames filled the room. Most were of him and Max, some were of the whole Vortex Club, and there was a lone one of him and an unknown girl, from when Nathan was around ten. She quickly changed, and opened the door, to find Nathan sitting with his back against the wall, cradling his head. She shut the door and slid down to sit next to him.

“Nathan,” she began calmly, “What happened that night?” 

When a moment had passed with no response, she felt necessary to take his hand and repeat her question. “What happened that night?”

“I… I was high on my meds. Dad had finally let me see another therapist and these ones started working, but they made me so tired. Max, I’m so tired, can we please talk in the morning?”

“We need to resolve this now, Nathan, if we are going to get a good night’s sleep. Please continue.”

“I was so tired, but I went to make a pick-up. The light… I didn’t see it go red…” Nathan began to cry again, and despite the circumstances, Max's heart broke for him. She could honestly tell he was so remorseful for it.

“I know you didn’t mean for it to happen, okay? Thank you for telling me.”

“Can we go to bed now?”

“Yes, we can.”

Max moved to crouch in front of him, took both his hands, and helped him stand. She held on to him still as they entered his room again, and tucked themselves into bed.

Max felt _incredibly_ weird about this situation she had landed herself in. How could hiding the keys to William’s truck land her in an actual honest-to-god relationship with Nathan fucking Prescott? In his arms, in his bed, in his dorm at school. But also… she didn’t mind it. This particular revelation came to her when he kissed the top of her head, and mumbled sleepily, “’Night. Love you,” before he passed out and slowly, she did too.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i left my plot outline, and now i have no idea where im heading w this apart from random thoughts i have about how to write this and physically scream about it

Honest to god, not that she believed in him after this shitshow of a week, Max had never felt more safe and warm in her bed. Her blankets felt so soft and comforting, the soft light creeping in the window, and Nathan’s soft breaths through her- _hold on._

She shifted her head upwards slightly and saw Nathan’s sleeping face, the previous night’s events shocking her from her sleep completely.

_How could I leave Chloe like that? What have I turned into?_

Max removed her arms from around his neck and started squirming.

“Nathan… Nathan, let me go.”

Nathan groaned lowly and tightened his grip. “Issa bad d-dream, Maxxie. Go back to ssssleep,” he slurred.

_Maxxie?_

“No, it’s morning, I need to get up.”

" _Nooooo_ _…_ jus a few more minutessss…”

Max continued to squirm, enough to put her arms between them and place her hands on his chest, his bare, muscular chest, she realised with a furious blush, and pushed lightly against him.

“Let me go, _now_. Not going to ask you again.”

He pouted and let her go, and she made to get up, before he pulled her back to kiss her cheek.

“Oof!”

“Hava good day…” was all he said before he fell asleep again.

She quickly stood up and moved away from him, not scared but… also not _not_ scared _._ What there was to be scared of, she wasn’t sure, but was probably her own feelings at this point. Ensuring he was definitely asleep, she changed into her day clothes again as quickly as she could, grabbed her bag and left.

Checking the time, she was pleasantly surprised to find it was only 9 ‘o clock, but her mood was dampened to find a few missed calls from a number she definitely recognised from her original timeline. Reluctantly, she dialled the number to call them back. It rang a few times, before the tired tone of Southern accent answered.

“Max-“

“Joyce, please, I can explain!”

“Max, I-“

“I know it was totally rude of me to leave with only a note but my… my boyfriend had a panic attack. I’m really sorry and I’m on my way back now!”

“ _Maxine_.”

_Shit._

“…Joyce?”

"Chloe passed away this morning.”

Max took a moment to process, but refused to believe it.

“Max?”

“She… she can’t be… I was with her only last night, she-“

“I know Max, I know. She asked me to give you the photo album just before she… she…” Joyce’s voice broke as she sobbed.

Max felt… nothing. It was so numbing. She couldn’t feel the tears falling on her face, nor could she feel herself falling over, or hear anyone call for her. She could only feel her heart beating erratically and the soft mumbles of her own voice going _no no no no no_ _…_ then she blacked out.

* * *

“Max! Oh my god, Max, please wake up!"

Max woke with a terrible migraine and her face felt puffy. She tried to sit up, cradling her head, before she was gently pushed back down.

“Max, what happened?”

Max finally opened her eyes, to find Victoria and Justin staring at her with worry and fear. She saw some movement behind Justin and refocused her sight, seeing Nathan getting up from the corner of Justin’s room where he was rocking back and forth with red eyes, moving to kneel beside her.

“Maxxie? Are you okay? What happened?”

Max had never seen him so worried, maybe wearing this emotion at all. 

“I… I don’t… what happened?" 

“M-Max… Victoria and Justin heard you collapse in the hallway and woke me up. You were curled up and… and you were mumbling your friend’s name over and over…”

The memories rushed back to her and she sat up straight against Nathan’s restraints. 

“No! I need to go, she… she…”

Max fell back against the bed, covering her face with her hands and sobbing. She barely registered Nathan’s weight as he held her, whispering words she didn’t understand, Victoria and Justin hovering over them with worry and wondering what the fuck to do.

“I-I-I need to-o-o see h-h-her… p-please, I need to s-seee Chloe...”

“I’ll take you, I’ll take you, don’t worry it’ll be okay,” Nathan whispered to her, “I’ll take you there now, it’ll be okay, let’s go.”

Nathan gripped her arms, helping her sit up, but she pushed him away and tried to speed out of the door. He grabbed her arms again, but she wrenched them out and whipped around to face him, a rage fuelled by grief lit in her eyes.

“Don’t you _dare_ slow me down, Prescott. I need to see her now, whether I take the bus or you drive me."

“Max, I know-“

“ _NO!_ You _don_ _’_ _t_ know! You have no idea what I’ve been through! I lost my best friend only one day after reuniting with her!"

“Okay, maybe I don’t know! Maybe I’m so fucking privileged and rich that I have no idea about life Max, is that it?”

“You know damn well that that is not what I meant. I know what you’ve been through, everyone does, but you don’t know a damn thing about me. Now, are we going?”

“Whatever.”

They stormed off out of the dorms, many of their students staring due to their loud argument.

* * *

When they had almost arrived, Max thought back to the phone call from Joyce.

_“_ _She asked me to give_ _you_ _the photo album._ _”_

_The photo album_ _…_ _wait, maybe I can go back and change it again! But_ _…_ _William will die._

Max now felt conflicted. To let her best friend die, or let her father die and have her unhappy with the world? Both came with the guilt of knowing she would be the reason they’d die, but at the same time, how could she leave William and Joyce with such a large debt, before and after they had lost their daughter? She knew what she had to do.

Nathan’s truck pulled up to the house. He, still mad at Max, faced out of his window when Max looked at him. 

“Nathan?”

“What?”

It was probably a bit foolish of her to act on her feelings, but she thought if she got this out of the way, it would go away when she returned to her timeline. With her mind made up on that, and unable to find fault in her logic, she leaned over, grabbing his face and kissed him softly.

“Thank you,” she whispered, then she left the truck.

Taking a deep breath, she walked up the path to the door. The silence hung in the air, feeling eerie and heavy. It only took one knock before it opened to a red-eyed William on the other side, his face marked with tear tracks and he pulled her into a hug.

“M-Max…”

“I’m so sorry I left!”

“Max i-it’s not your fault…”

“I-It is, it is…”

“Max, is that you?” Joyce’s voice floated into the hallway from the living room.

“Yes, it’s me.”

“Oh Max…”

Joyce wrapped her arms around the pair, holding strong while tears continued to fall, now wetting Max’s shoulder.

“I… I don’t think I can see her…”

“Max, we would never expect you to see her like this. But she did ask us to give you the photo album... t-to always remember her…” William’s voice cracked at the end as the loss of his little girl broke him again.

“Please, where is it?”

Joyce led her to the living room, where it sat on the coffee table, across from the door to Chloe’s room. They sat down, flicking through the photos until Max found the one William had taken of them, the morning they made pancakes and she saved his life. _But I doomed Chloe_ _’_ _s instead_ _…_

“Can I… May I take this back to school?”

“Of course, honey, we understand.” 

She tucked the album in her elbow, giving both Joyce and William a tearful hug goodbye, and got back in Nathan’s truck.

“You okay?”

“No…”

He gave her sympathetic look, his eyes creasing as he felt her sadness and slid over on the bench to wrap an arm around her. Without thinking, she leant into his warmth, closed her eyes and sighed. She felt too exhausted to do anything else and asked that they return to school.

* * *

Back at school, Nathan sat beside her on her bed as she opened the album to the photo she needed to travel back to.

“When was this taken?”

“We were pretending to be pirates… Joyce was working at the Two Whales overnight and William went to pick her up. That night, she made us her famous chocolate cake.”

“Sounds like you guys were like sisters. Like Kris and you now.”

_Kris? Who?_

“Uhh, y-yeah…"

She gently removed the photo from its plastic case, glancing at Nathan who had his arm still wrapped around her, before focusing on the photo. She could just hear the sounds of giggling and the picture blurred before it came into crystal clear focus and white light blinded her again.

“Someday, Dad will get one of those newfangled computers!”

“I hope the flash didn’t scare you, Max. This is a keeper!”

“Not until I see it! Max, tell him... woah, you’re totally pale, are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine!” Max’s 13-year-old self feigned a smile and eased their worry for her. She turned, feeling the full weight of what she was about to do hit her.

“In French, they call them "crepes”. And a good French chef needs his assistants if you want to eat breakfast!”

“ _Oui_. I volunteer to break the eggs!”

On cue, the phone rang again. Max resisted the urge to tell them it was Joyce, that she knew what was going to happen, that she knew _all of it_ , and moved the keys to the dining table for an easy find.

“Shit, where are my keys?”

“That’s a dollar for the swear jar!”

“You mean your college fund!”

“I think I saw them on the dining table, William.”

He glanced at her with a smile, thanked her and prepared to leave.

“Now remember, no Chloe and Max wine-tasting sessions.”

“But Dad-“

“No buts! Your mother is making her salmon surprise with her famous chocolate cake tonight! I’ll see you soon!”

Max sank to her knees, the guilt of condemning William enveloping her and stifled some sobs.

“Woah Max, what the fuck? Are you okay?”

“I’m s-so sorry, Chloe… I’m so sorry…”

Her vision faded to white once more. The images of the new memories created in the alternate timeline burned from the edges and returned to what they were before, and as soon as it had started, she found herself sitting in her room, staring at her phone, open on a text message from Chloe.

Chloe: we need to get into prescotts room

Max: Sorry I just came back from another timeline, what?

Chloe: timeout you WHAT

_Chloe is calling…_

Max answered the phone and cut Chloe off to start explaining.

“Wha-"

“Yesterday I found out that I can go back further in time by going into memories captured by pictures. I changed something and that created a whole other timeline."

“…”

“Chloe?”

“What the fucking fuck? That is SO COOL, dude!”

_Please don_ _’_ _t ask when, please don_ _’_ _t ask when, please don_ _’_ _t ask when-_

“When did you travel back to? And what did you change?” Chloe’s excited tone crackled over the line

_Fuck_.

“Uhh… “

“Actually, tell me when I get there. We’re gonna go through Prescott’s room to see what he’s hiding.”

“Can you catch me up on what happened since you dropped me off here yesterday? The other timeline is like at the same time we’re at so I don’t know what happened yesterday.”

“Yeah yeah, when I get there.”

“Okay, see you soon.” Max hung up, grabbed her pillow and screamed into it. 

Max was entirely not ready to face him if they caught her.

* * *

“So what was it like going back?”

“It was like… I focused on the picture really hard and it started to blur until my focus on it was right, and I could hear us- uhhh, what was happening in the memory before I actually got pulled into it. And I couldn’t go outside the boundaries of it, I guess? Like there was a certain area that the photo was in and I couldn’t leave it.”

“So what did you change? Anything big?”

“Uhhh…” _fuCK._ “Nah, just some answers on a homework sheet that I got wrong. Ended up a teacher’s pet and Brooke was my new best friend.

“The nerd chick with the drone?”

“Yeah, that’s her. She has this massive crush on Warren.”

“Oof. That must be shit for her.”

“Y-Yeah…” Max almost knew how she felt now, and Warren, kinda. Brooke liked Warren who liked Max who, as she recently discovered, liked fucking Nathan Prescott of all people. 

It started with his eyes, the way they crinkled when he smiled. His whole face seemed to light up when he smiled, and it became Max’s new favourite thing. He was just… so caring, and didn’t judge her at all, in the alternate timeline. He was so warm, and genuinely caring, and a good person. He had-

“Support,” she whispered quietly.

“What was that?”

Max paled and giggled nervously. “Ahah, nothing. I was just thinking aloud for a moment. Um, can we leave going through Nathan’s room until tomorrow or something? Time travel is tiring.”

“Isn’t the storm meant to arrive tomorrow? We need to do it now, and before the stupid party tonight.”

“I-I-I guess you have a point.”

“Alright well, let’s go.”

Max felt almost frozen. Like she was back in middle school and Chloe was pushing her towards a guy she had a stupid crush on, only this time she could _not_ let her find out who her stupid crush was.

_Conceal, don_ _’_ _t feel_ _…_ _or whatever that new Disney movie said in the trailer._

Max and Chloe made their way to the boys’ dorm. Thankfully, most of the students were in class, so the building was empty minus a few of the rooms on the lower levels. They took a moment to read the floor plan to find Nathan’s room, more for Chloe’s benefit than Max’s.

Entering his room, Max was surprised to find it was entirely the same in both timelines, and tried hard to not let it show on her face. The projector above their- _his_ bed still played a slideshow of black and white images, a fancy-looking camera sat on his desk, and a decent couch finished the room. Chloe immediately ducked down to check under his bed and waved Max off to look at other things.

The discomfort was unreal. This Nathan was one she knew, and she knew he would not be glad to find her in his room. Regardless, she was also a bit scared of Chloe and walked towards his desk. His laptop sat open on an email, signed by “Kris”. Reading through the email, she gathered that this Kris was Kristine, his older sister, and that she lived in Brazil.

_If I knew her_ _well_ _…_ _did she ever go to Brazil?_ _She_ _sounds awesome._

Max clicked through a few more emails before switching it back to Kristine’s and decided that was enough privacy-violating for now. She turned to look at the shelves across from the couch and looked at the photos. Almost all of them were of him with the Vortex Club, some of just him and Victoria, one of him and his family and…

_Wait a fucking minute. Is that from my wall?_

Sure enough, leaning against one of the frames was a small polaroid that Max had taken of herself in the evening light. “Why the fuck…” she muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes. She tucked it into her pocket and turned to look at Chloe, who was now going through his chest of drawers opposite _his_ , it's _his_ bed, and noticed a scratch in the carpet. Bobbing down into a crouch, she felt along the line that lead to the foot of the couch, all four of which were on wheels.

“Chloe, look at this."

Chloe turned to look at Max, following her gaze, and her eyes lit up with anticipation.

“Max, I think you’re-“

The door opened. They both turned in fear to find Nathan staring at them in confusion and anger.

“The fuck are you in my room for?”

_Oh shit, there_ _’_ _s hella fault in my logic._ _Oh my_ fucking _god, my first kiss was with Nathan Prescott._

Max felt herself redden lightly, and the sensations of Nathan’s arms around her from before made her skin tingle. She glanced at Chloe, who was looking at her. _Asshole._

“Uhh… the fuck you take my photo for?”

“What?”

“This one!” She pulled out the polaroid of her and held it up for Nathan to see. “Why did you steal it from my room?”

Nathan’s eyebrows knitted in confusion and glanced at Chloe. He lowered his eyes, his cheeks blushing as he slowly grit out the words, “I… you... I don’t know. Get out, while I let you.”

Chloe stood and grabbed Max’s arm, rushing out while glaring at him, but he wasn’t looking at Chloe. He made eye contact with Max and she was dragged out by Chloe, their blushes only deepening as they passed each other, but Max dropped her eyes when she saw Chloe glance at her out of the corner of her eyes.

Instead of heading back to Max’s room, Chloe made her way back to her truck.

“I need to go see Frank about his clients because somehow I don’t think Kate left the party willingly. With any luck, he’ll give in. You coming?”

Max felt her phone buzz and gathered that it was Nathan, trying to… harass her? Ask why she was there?

“No… uh, I’ll come by later once you’re done with Frank. We’ll sort this out, okay?”

“Okay, Mad Max. See you later,” Chloe drawled as she waved lazily to Max, hopping in her truck. Max turned as the engine roared to life, and took her phone out of her pocket. Sure enough, there were two unread texts from Nathan waiting for her. _No emoji this time._

Nathan Prescott: come back to my room when the blue headed bitch is gone.

Nathan Prescott: we need to talk, now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> literally projecting my love for Nathan nearing the end don’t mind me

_Ooohhhhhh my god,_ was all Max could think as she made her way back to the boys’ dorm, her posture and movements almost robotic. She was _so_ not prepared for the absolute abuse she was about to endure from Nathan, but like what’s new? 

She paused outside of the building, taking a deep breath before she made her way to the floor. Entering the hallway, her brain short-circuited and she couldn’t move. _Why the fuck did I listen to him, what am I doing here? Why didn’t I just rewind when he came in?_ She was so hesitant to see Nathan she physically could not move her feet. She hadn’t felt fear like this before, not like the multiple times she had had to save Chloe from the stupid shit she’d done, like shooting the bumper in the junkyard. This wasn’t just about the confusing feelings she had anymore. She fucked up.

When she tuned back in, she found herself in front of his door. She knocked lightly once before the door was thrown open and she was dragged in by the arm, and as quick as it started she found herself shoved against the door, nose to nose with Nathan as he stared into her eyes with fury.

“Nathan-“

“Why the _fuck_ were you in my room, Caulfield?”

A few things registered immediately to her. One, her back hurt like a bitch, and the sound the door made when she was slammed against it sound like it cracked the wood. Two, Max could feel the cool metal of a knife against her neck, his hot breath on her face, and his other hand digging into her waist as she was pressed against the door. Three, she was incredibly fucking _terrified_.

“ _Answer me!_ ”

“N-N-N-Nathan… I-I, we, um…”

Nathan narrowed his eyes further, but she could see that he was out of it. His pupils were blown and he had a wild look on his face.

“P-Please, you’re hurting me…” she whispered. His grip loosened ever slightly, but enough that she was in less pain. 

He grit his teeth and murmured, “If you don’t tell me what you were doing, you’re not leaving this room alive.”

_I can believe that… fuck, what do I say?_

“Nathan, c-c-can we sit down? S-So I can explain?”

He paused, staring what felt like was into her soul, before he chucked the knife on his bed, and pushed her to the couch roughly, while he stood in front of her with his arms crossed.

“S-So… Chloe knows about my powers too. A-A-And, she’s looking for Rachel-“

“Everyone knows she’s gone. She’s not coming back.”

“You don’t know that. A-Anyway, Rachel was… involved… with Frank,” Max thought she could see a flicker of sadness in his eyes, “And now Chloe thinks you’ve got something to do with it-“

“I don’t.”

“Well she doesn’t know that. You drugged Kate and the only person to get drugs from in Arcadia Bay is from Frank-“

“I didn’t fucking drug Kate! You know that!” Nathan started shouting.

“Do I?” Max stood up, making them almost touch noses. “Because I can’t name another single fucking person that would be malicious enough to do this! Look at you, you look like you’re on cocaine right now!”

“Maybe because I am!”

“Nathan, don’t you want to get better? Drugs can’t help you, they don’t care about you!"

“Well I can’t name a single fucking person that does!”

“Maybe I fucking do!” _FUCK._

They both just looked at each other, breathing heavily, as Nathan tried to process what she said. 

“…What?”

Max debated rewinding, but what would she change? She didn’t want to get screamed at by him again. But truthfully, she had only known this Nathan a few days. _Am I projecting the other Nathan onto this one? Time travel is so fucking confusing._

“Uh, another thing happened…”

“I thought we were meant to be in this thing together, to fight the storm. And you’re hiding shit from me?”

“Uh, to be fucking fair, it only happened, like, an hour ago. Lay off and let me explain.”

He sighed, frustrated, and dropped down next to her. He seemed to have starting to come down and was increasingly becoming agitated.

“So, yesterday, I was looking at a photo of Chloe and I from a few years ago. Weird shit started happening, and then I found myself back in that memory.”

“Wow, you time travelled, big deal.”

“Uh, yeah, it is a big deal, because this was _years_ through a _photo_ and I can only go back a few minutes normally. Chloe’s dad took this photo the day he was in a car crash and died. I hid the keys, but shit became so different… she was a paraplegic.”

“That doesn’t explain how you think we’re friends after like, three days.”

“You can’t say we aren’t friends, you carried me back to my room.”

“Read between the lines, who else was the dickhead principal going to blame for it?”

 _Ouch._ “Whatever.”

“So what else was changed?”

Max grew nervous, her hands fidgeting as she stalled for an excuse, and her eyes darted around the room.

“Jesus, did _you_ take something? Calm down.”

“Um… long story short, we were really good friends. Like, I’m-close-with-your-sister-kind of friends. You were very different.”

“You knew Kris? She didn’t ditch me for Brazil?” His expression was pitiful. His eyes dropped to his hands sitting in his lap, glassy as if he was holding back tears.

“Apparently so… I didn’t get all of the knowledge over there though, I had to learn some things… Warren got with Stella, I was in the Vortex Club, and…”

“And what?”

She sighed. _No avoiding it now._ “Don’t laugh, but… we were together. Like, together-together. That’s how Kristine and I were close."

She rested her face in her hands and covered her eyes, hoping she could conceal the growing blush on her face and that he heard something else.

“Sorry, what the fuck?”

_Nope._

“Like, you had a panic attack over something and made me stay the night. In your _bed_.” She pointed to his bed, not lifting her head from her hands.

“In my _bed?_ What did I have a panic attack over?”

Max raised her head and looked at him in disbelief. “ _That’s_ what you want to know?”

“You said you don’t know anything about the other universe apart from what happened when you were there, and I wanna know. What happened?”

“Chloe knew it was you that hit her truck and paralysed her. But, you were happier there. Less…” she didn’t want to say unstable, “…moody.”

He laughed dryly. “Moody, right. Better than psycho freak, I guess.”

She didn’t know exactly how to address that, so she moved on. “Nathan, I don’t know what’s happened in this timeline since we got back to school yesterday, and I forgot to ask Chloe. Did we do anything else?”

“No. I haven’t seen you since yesterday, and you weren’t in class either.”

“Hmm.”

They sat in silence, both contemplating what to do next.

“I think I should go now.”

“Wait.”

Max was half stood up, in some kind of crouching position but sat down again.

“Yeah?”

“Did we do anything?”

“Uhhh… no, no we didn’t.” Half a lie, she justified to herself, as it was alternate him and not actually him.

Max made to leave, but stopped and turned to face him at the door.

“Nathan?”

“Yeah?”

They made eye contact, before Max dropped it to the scratch on the carpet, and Max asked, “What did you hide behind the couch?”

“Just drugs,” he said a little too quickly as his face reddened a bit, "Are you going to the party tonight?” Nathan got up, stood next to Max and opened the door.

“I think so, yeah. I wanna see who’s won the Everyday Heroes Contest.” Max didn’t believe it was just drugs behind there. Everyone knew he abused them, why would he bother hiding?

“Don’t go,” he said, as he gently pushed her out of the door and closed it.

“What? Why?” She called, staring at the closed door.

“Because I am telling you not to go.”

“Whatever,” Max mumbled as she rolled her eyes and huffed as she left the dorm, and made her way to the bus shelter to go see Chloe.

* * *

“So, did Frank give away anything?” Max asked as she sat on Chloe’s bed, watching her pace.

“Yeah he did, now that he’s paid. He gave me the client decipher list, take a look."

In amongst the names she didn’t know were Stella as a Dachshund, Logan as a Labrador, Nathan as a Rottweiler, Justin as a Beagle and Chloe as a Bulldog. Seeing Stella’s name surprised her, but the other names didn’t.

“A bulldog?”

“Personally, I don’t see it. Prescott being a Rottweiler is fitting though. Or just rotten.”

“I suppose it is,” she started before Chloe paused in her pacing and she hastily changed the subject. “I wonder who Ms. Fancycar is."

“Probably one of the Blackhell teachers. Now, help me bring up the photo board from the backyard, so we can pin all of our clues on it.”

Lugging the heavy board up stairs, they finally sorted all the clues that they had collected from David’s “man cave”, Frank’s RV and his client list.

“Think we can do this without Nathan’s phone?” Max asked, glancing at Chloe.

“It’ll be tough… but I reckon we have enough to go off of. Let me know what you figure out and I’ll do more work on my laptop.”

Chloe headed to her desk with that final thought as Max turned to the board, starting with the client list and the book Frank kept for orders. Searching for any mention of Nathan’s dog alter, she found three, but one matched the night of the Vortex Club party that Kate had attended the previous week. She took down the non-matches and focused on another area of the board, now on David’s photos. She took down Kate’s and, recognising Nathan’s truck, the photos of a red truck that wasn’t his. Choosing the list of coordinates that matched his license plate, she scanned it for the date of the party, finding a few on the date, but none until well into the evening, when the party would be at its peak. _He left his own party for this… Nathan, what are you doing?_

She took the page of coordinates off the board, and brought it to Chloe.

“Check out this string of coordinates here. Where does it lead to?”

“Let’s find out.” Hitting a few keys on her keyboard, she brought up a photo of a peeling, dilapidated barn that held no memory of its former glory. “Some old barn.”

“Who owns it?”

“Uhh… some dude named Harry Aaron… Prescott,” Chloe finished, narrowing her eyes with hate.

_It would be Nathan’s great fucking whatever that owns this place._

“Well, let’s go see what he’s hiding, yeah?”

“N-Now? That shit looks kinda scary.”

“Yes Max, drugging and kidnapping girls is a scary thing, but we need to make sure Rachel isn’t tangled up in it. Do it for Kate.”

“Okay… let’s go then.”

* * *

Chloe’s truck pulled up slowly as they stared up at the barn, in shock and a little bit awed. The barn stood tall amongst the pine trees, in what seemed to be the northern outskirts of the town. Hints of red from the paint that had stubbornly not yet peeled off speckled the barn in small patches, and leaves littered the ground as the air started to grow colder, in time for winter.

“Well, it looks worse in person.”

“Hmm,” Max mumbled as they exited the truck. They headed to the front doors, Chloe pushing on them. “Fuck. Couldn’t make it easy, could they?”

“No, but look,” Max said as she knelt down to touch the dirt, “Fresh tire tracks. Someone’s been here today."

“Nice eye, Max. You look for another way in and I’ll see if I can’t get this thing to open.”

Walking around the side, Max couldn’t help but start to feel resentment against Chloe. _She always needs to stand around and have me go off to do the actual work. Typical Chloe, I guess. As if those stupid barn doors are going to open. If I rewind, then how are we going to get out? She won’t even stay inside, how would_ I _get out?_

Eventually, Max found some loose metal sheets, propped up against a hole on the west side. “Yo, Chloe! Come check this out!” She made a gap just large enough for them both to fit through, and ducked to get through it. Chloe followed, and they looked up and around the barn. On the inside, it looked so much larger, and calmer, as the sunlight shone down through the broken planks in the roof and illuminated the dust floating around the space. Bales of straw sat around haphazardly and the rest of the space was littered with broken farming equipment.

“Huh, I always thought the Prescotts were in the navy industry, making a fortune killing baby seals.”

“Chloe! Don’t say that, that’s so sad!”

“The Prescotts do some fucked up, sad shit. Excuse me for calling it out,” Chloe retorted sarcastically, raising her hands. “Now let’s just look around quickly, and see what they’re hiding. We don’t want to be surprised.”

“Hmph.” _Chloe can be so crass._

Max supposed the reason she felt more annoyance at Chloe today is due to her growing… friendship with Nathan. She didn’t forget that he almost killed Chloe, and claims he didn’t but totally did drug Kate for some reason, but she felt remorseful, knowing how different he could be if some things didn’t happen, or some things did. Would he be happier if Kristine stayed? More stable if both siblings fought to get Nathan better treatment? It gave Max a headache to think about, but she couldn’t help it.

She looked at all of the straw sprawled on the floor of the barn, and started to clear it all to one side. It felt hopeless, like she and Chloe were looking for something that wasn’t real, until her hand brushed against cool metal. She hurried to clear it away and found herself staring at a metal trapdoor in the ground. _What the fuck…_

“Dude, that’s some find you have here,” Chloe laughed with shock and a little excitement. She bent down, pulling at the latch before she figured it too heavy. Max looked around for something that might be able to lift it off, then walked backwards a little bit to look at the higher levels. 

To her surprise, she saw something that would definitely be of help, tied to some rope that was wound around the hook poking off of the wooden post close to her. She wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but it looked heavy, so she grabbed the rope, untying it and wrapped it under the latch a few times, pulling at it to check the grip.

“Chloe, boost me up?” Max asked as she stood in front of the lowest platform. “You be careful up there, Max,” Chloe replied as she laced her fingers together and pushed Max’s foot up. Pulling herself up onto the platform, Max looked for something to stand on for the next higher platform, finding a large, solid box on the opposite end. Testing her weight, she tentatively stepped towards it before sighing with relief and hoped she wasn’t going to break anything by standing on it. Max pushed the box over to the edge and climbed up, finding it to be as solid as it looks and climbed up to the next platform, where the piece of farm equipment was sitting, rust not yet covering the green paint.

Thankfully, the rope was indeed tied to what looked to be the handle, so she checked the grip on it and slowly, but carefully, pushed it over the edge where the lower platform sat. The platform creaked as the weight moved, and crashed over the edge as it fell onto the other platform. To Max’s surprise, it didn’t fall right through it, but it was muffled by the elation she felt as the metal latch snapped open and let them enter.

“Shit Max, you did it! Nice! Be careful coming down!” Max slid her way down off of the platforms until she reached the ground, and made her way to Chloe who had her hand raised for a high-five. Returning it with a giggle, they opened the trapdoor, revealing concrete stairs to an underground bunker.

“Woah… I knew they were crazy, but this? This is fucking nuts,” Chloe murmured. 

“Yeah… this shit is becoming a lot.”

“Let’s see what’s down here…” Chloe said decisively, taking Max’s hand and pulling her along, down the stairs.

Arriving at a door with a large wheel on it, a small keypad to the left of it on the wall, Chloe let out a low whistle. “Fucking underground bunker-ass rich bitches. What do they have to hide?”

Max inspected the keypad closer as Chloe tried unfruitfully to turn the wheel. “Fucking open sesame, already,” Max heard her mumble. Three numbers had appeared to be worn out; two, four and five. “Hmmm,” Max poked a bit of her tongue out in concentration. “Two…” _beep,_ “Four…” _beep,_ “Five," _ennnn._

_Wrong combination. Let’s try another. Backwards, maybe?_

“Five, four, two,” _beep beep!_ The wheel spun out of Chloe’s hands, and the door unsealed and slowly turned inwards. “Damn, Max, nice job.”

“Always the tone of surprise with you,” Max replied playfully with a roll of her eyes.

Chloe pushed the door lightly, and they entered the dark bunker. Switching on a light they found a small room that leads to another, that led to another larger room, complete with a small desk and white backdrop.

“A… photography room?” Chloe looked at Max with confusion.

“They call it a darkroom, where old camera rolls would be developed and printed. Considering where this room is… I’d say it fits here as well.” Max wandered up to the bench at what looked like a makeshift kitchen while Chloe looked at the shelves back in the first room.

“Oh my _god_ , this literally is an underground bunker. We haven’t had a tornado in Arcadia Bay like… ever! Do you reckon they know about the storm that’s meant to be coming tomorrow?”

“They’re doing something…” Max murmured with wide eyes as she picked up a plastic bottle labeled “Chloroform”, “Chloe, look at this.”

Chloe peeked over her shoulder, then swore. “Oh my god.” 

With panic in their step, they entered the darkroom again, Max searching the cupboards and Chloe going for the computer left open. She gasped loudly, and Max glanced out of the corner of her eye as she started opening the cupboard closest to the desk, then turned her full attention when she saw it.

Kate, dazed and confused, bound by her hands and feet, and leaning up against the white background. Chloe flicked to the next photo, which depicted Kate’s eyes glazed over as she held her hands almost in a praying position as she lay on her side. Max felt her eyes tear up as she whispered Kate’s name.

“Max?”

Both Chloe and Max shot their head up towards the voice coming from the entrance to the darkroom where Nathan Prescott stood, his face as white as a ghost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out my tumblr @theluckiestwitchathogwarts!!


	6. Chapter 6

“Max,” Nathan whispered evenly, “There are surveillance cameras in here.”

Both girls’ eyes widened. Chloe’s looked like they were almost bulging out of her head when she exploded.

"What the FUCK is going on here? You’re fucking sick, Prescott!” Chloe all but screamed as she made her way around the desk, launching herself at Nathan. 

“Chloe, stop!”

“No! He’s got something to do with this, otherwise he wouldn’t be here! It’s his fucking barn!”

“Get off me, bitch!” Nathan barked at her, trying not to hurt her at Max’s horrified face while trying to avoid her punches as well.

“Chloe! Get off, now!” Max pulled on her as hard backwards as she could, gripping her arm and shoulder, and sent them both tumbling to the floor.

“How much have you seen, Max?”

“ _Seen?_ Nathan, what have you done?”

“What have you seen? I need to know, now!”

“The computer… I tried _so fucking hard_ to believe you, Nathan.”

“Believe him? What-“

“Anything else? The cupboard?” Nathan nodded his head to the cupboard Max had partially opened. Both girls swirled their heads to see dozens of red binders, labeled with girls’ names, Rachel just peeking out of the closed door.

The blood in Max’s veins ran cold as she turned to face Chloe who was frozen in shock, still staring at the binder. _Rachel is missing, and we need to find her Max._

“She’s not- she can’t be- _where is Rachel_?”

Chloe’s voice sounded so weak, fragile, and tired, as she stammered and tears silently ran down her face. Max could just barely make out Nathan’s own glistening eyes as he whispered, “I’m so s-s-sorry…”

“No, no, not Rachel!” Chloe’s voice became louder as she sobbed, prompting everyone else in the room to start crying. “Where is she, Prescott?! Where the fuck is she?” Chloe screamed at him, sadness overwhelming her.

“T-The junkyard, at the back b-by the train tracks… Max, please, he’ll know you’re here, you need to rewind, go back, please don’t come here…”

“ _Rewind?_ You fucking told him?!”

“The vision, i-it changed, he was in it Chloe! A-and he, he didn’t steal that photo, I gave it to him. T-there’s so much I hid from you… but you’re not going to remember it, okay? I need to rewind, so he won’t find us!”

“He? Who’s he? What the fuck is going on?”

“Wait, he? Nathan, what do you mean, he? Who is behind this?”

Nathan’s eyes widened, a tear spilling over that he wiped away immediately.

“I… I don’t… I can’t… please, please go, you’re already the next target, Max.”

“The…” Max trailed off, too horrified to think about the whole situation, but pulled Chloe by the arm and rushed up the stairs and out of the barn. Chloe was, unsurprisingly, silent in the whole thirty seconds it took for Max to leave. She raised her hand to rewind but Chloe grabbed it.

“No. I need to see her, now.”

“Chloe, I will tell you everything, but we need to be safe now, we can’t raise suspicion.”

“But-“

“No. You heard what he said, I’m already the next target! I don’t want to end up like Kate, or Rachel! We need to go back.”

Chloe’s grip slacked, and dropped her hand to her side. She took a deep breath in and whispered, “Okay.”

Max concentrated, feeling her body pull back in time as the world began to blur and speed up around her. She watched as the wind whipped through the trees, Nathan shuffling out of the gap in the wall backward and heading back towards his truck, the truck skidding out of the clearing and didn’t stop until she saw her former self wander around the barn. Consequently, that moment was as far back as she could go, and her head split into a killer migraine and blood streaked down from her nostril. Max wiped it away and ran around to the front, yelling for Chloe.

“Chloe? Chloe, we need to get back to the truck!”

“What? But we-“

“I had to rewind. I know where she is!”

Chloe’s face dropped and her mouth fell open. “Where?” She whispered.

“She’s at the junkyard, Chloe.”

“What? No, no we’ve been there, she wouldn’t hide from us… she wouldn’t hide from me!”

“She’s not hiding Chloe! We need to go, now!”

* * *

Chloe’s hands shook lightly on the wheel, almost making them skid as she sped the roads to the junkyard. Max was silent, thinking over everything she had just found out.

She couldn’t trust Nathan, not that she should have in the first place, she scolded herself. She was so conflicted about him claiming to not have drugged Kate, but Kate isn’t one to lie. _She gives me this deprecating look every time she enters my room and remembers I barely remember to water Lisa._ But still, it hit her hard to feel like he betrayed her, which he would not even know about now because she rewound. At his request! _Who the fuck does he think he is?_ Acting like he actually cares about me- wait, does he care?

Max’s face paled, then went red all over. _Does he care about me too?_ But Max didn’t have time to think anything further about it, as the truck grind to a halt as they pulled up to the junkyard. Chloe jumped out, slamming the door and bolted towards the train tracks, Max following albeit a little slower and wheezing a little bit.

“Chloe… _huff huff_ … slow down!”

But she ignored her, not stopped until they found a secluded area near the tracks, still within the junkyard’s line. She started digging, and Max as well when she arrived. No sooner did they hit something soft and released the foul stench of rotten flesh. 

“Ugh, the smell!”

“No, no, Rachel!” Chloe cried, as the iconic blue feather earring was unearthed and she stumbled away, retching and vomiting.

“No, Rachel! Why-y-y….” Chloe broke down and sobbed. Max held her head as she cried with her.

“I’m s-s-sorry, Chloe…”

* * *

A few hours later, the girls lay on top of the covers in Chloe’s room holding hands, Chloe resting her head on Max’s shoulder. They didn’t talk, just listened as the wind blew gently outside and waves from the beach crashed in the distance. Chloe sighed lightly for what felt like the thousandth time before Max turned her head to face Chloe.

“What are we going to do now?”

“We’re going to confront that son of a bitch tonight at the party."

“In front of everyone?”

“He’s a fucking killer, Max, of course in front of everyone. He’s not going to shoot up the party.”

“He might, you’ve seen how he waves the gun around. I… I don’t think we should go."

Max still felt pretty numb, knowing what he had done but still drawn to him. She wished desperately that she could switch the timelines and be a better friend to Chloe, not have left for Seattle and built her own perfect world. But unfortunately, things happen for some reason and she can’t change it. 

“Don’t go? Why?“

“I just have a bad feeling about it, okay?”

She didn’t tell Chloe about his warning, that she was “next”, and not to go to the party. Not that she could tell her, not without spilling those beans again. And anyway, next for what? Next to be drugged and photographed? Will she end up like Kate who wished she was dead, or killed and buried like Rachel?

“We will be fine, alright? I have a gun too, remember? Let’s just change and look like we fit in until we find him.”

“Fine."

They sat up together, and Max got off the bed to look through the wardrobe while Chloe rolled a joint. 

“I think I have something that might fit, but it’s not really your style. Only option though.”

“Sooo… what is it?”

* * *

“I still can’t believe this is the only thing of yours that fits me. 'Look like we fit in'? Have you seen the shit people at Blackwell wear, Chloe?”

Max’s hair was tied into a messy bun that took a good ten minutes to do and redo before Chloe got sick of her fidgeting and fixed it for her. She wore a black crop top with a halter neck that felt like a scratchy cotton material and was almost too tight around her waist. An old pair of Chloe’s ripped jeans hugged the curves just above her hips and exposed the fishnets Chloe insisted she put on, despite Max’s protests. A bleached denim jacket from her freshman days at Blackwell hung off her shoulders and Chloe had forced some red lipstick on her, lining her eyes with eyeliner and making them pop.

“If they were cooler then they could fit in with us, maybe.”

“The people at school are stuck-up preppy art snobs, not hipster grunge assholes!”

“Whatever, you look hot anyways. Reckon Warren is going?”

Max had literally forgotten about Warren in the past few days. She barely had time to see him, much less remember that they- _oh_ _shit._ Max was meant to go on a date with him in a few weeks, but here she is feeling sorry for herself because she likes Nathan. She was _such_ a sucky friend.

“I don’t know… I haven’t spoken to him for a few days.”

“Oh my god, what happened? Did he do something? Did _you_ do something?” 

Max almost slapped her hand against her face, but Chloe pulled at it with a growl, “Don’t mess up my art! What happened?”

“Literally nothing happened, I’ve just been so busy looking for Rachel with you and figuring out this storm shit with- uh, I mean, I just haven’t had the time you know? It’s been a fucked week.”

Chloe sighed, pulling her hand away again. “Yeah, I know."

“I’m just so tired of feeling responsible for it all, like I’m in the middle of this and it’s my fault! And I think it is! I started getting these visions on the day I saved you and I… I just don’t know what to do anymore.”

Max dropped onto the bed, holding the side of her face and making sure to not mess anything up that would make her endure Chloe’s pissy attitude.

“Yeah but Max, you were given these powers for a reason! Maybe you were meant to prevent the storm!”

“But why me? I’m a hipster nobody on a scholarship to a school I don’t fit in at! I’m the most normal, invisible person there is! I’m just sick of all this pressure to save the town.”

“Max, you’re feeling that pressure because _you’re a good person._ If you were a piece of shit like Victoria or Nathan then you would be fine to use your powers how you want then leave this shit hole for the storm to destroy.”

“I don’t think they would do that. This is their home too.”

_At least, Nathan wouldn’t. But then again, can I trust any fucking word out of his mouth?_

“Point is, it sucks to be the good guy, but you do the best you can and in your case you can get a do-over, alright? Now let’s go.”

* * *

They arrived at Blackwell as the sun had completely disappeared below the horizon, letting the dim strip lights of the school that were swarmed with moths light their path. A few people lingered around the entrance and the grounds, dressed in club clothing and holding various drinks. Max look around at everyone and up at the stars and- _what the fuck?_

“Chloe, look! It’s a double moon…”

“Cool, it’s a fucking lunar eclipse, now let's go,” Chloe said monotonously, and pulled Max by the arm, up the stairs. As the girls head up the stairs, an inebriated Warren stumbled into Max.

“Woahhhh, Mad Max, where’ve you beeeeeen?”

“Uh, just around Warren. I’m sorry I can’t stop, I need to-“

“Maaaaaax, you look sooo hot toniiiight, what did you do to your face?” He asked with half lidded eyes, trying to swipe a hand across her face. Max stepped back but held out a hand to catch it. 

“Warren, how much have you had to drink?”

“Not a lot! Don’t be mean! But let’sssss get a photooo, please? The moons make it feel like it really is the end of the woooorld…”

“Just one, I really need to go Warren,” Max said impatiently as Chloe tapped her foot on the sidewalk. As Warren raised the camera, she felt his arm drop over her shoulders and she almost dropped the quick smile she had put on. Once the flash hit her, Chloe grabbed her hand and pulled on her, whining, “Let’s go already!”

“Sorry Warren, bye Warren!” Max called out as she left him alone under the lights.

Entering the pool, their eyes had to adjust to the dim coloured lighting set up in various corners of the large room.

“Max?” She heard her name being called faintly, and headed towards with Chloe by her side.

“Stella? You’re working the Vortex Club party?”

“They’re paying me at least! I didn’t know you’d be coming!”

“I didn’t think I would! This is Chloe, by the way!” At her name, Chloe dipped her head towards Stella and clicked her tongue, to which Stella smiled albeit somewhat hesitantly.

“Oh, by the way, have you seen Nathan?”

“I just started so I’m not sure if he’s in yet or not, but if he is he’s probably in the VIP area, douchey as usual!”

“Great, bye.” Chloe bluntly said to Stella, and once again pulled Max by her wrist past the curtains separating the entrance from the party. The music suddenly became louder and lights flickered all around the room. Most, if not all, of the attendees had drinks in their hands, and some were jumping into the pool and swimming. Funnily enough, they did fit right in, clothing-wise. Chloe tapped on Max’s shoulder, mouthing that looked like “I’ll go that way" and pointed to her right, then started walking away. Blinking once, Max shook her head, a little at stunned at how easily Chloe ditched her. _Whatever though._

Max started heading around the left side of the pools, ducking her head into the changing rooms and continuing on when she saw he wasn’t any of the occupants. In the far corner was a bar that Courtney was sitting at.

“Max! Looks like you took my advice!” Courtney beamed, looking her up and down. Max shifted from foot to foot, feeling a little uncomfortable, before replying, “Uh, yeah, my friend Chloe thought this would look nice on me. Have you seen Nathan?”

She shook her head and almost fell off the stool and Max rushed to her side to steady her.

“Woah, settle down!”

“I’m fine! Nah I haven’t seen him, but I left Sarah to do VIP duty like half an hour ago so maybe he’s gone in now!”

“Okay, thanks!”

“Max?” Courtney called to her as she began to head around the side of the pool

“Yeah?”

“Have fun, and stay safe!” Courtney finished with a suggestive wiggle of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows and tilt of her head.

Max felt even more uncomfortable and blushed, turning and walking away fast. Halfway to the VIP desk, she bumped into someone hard and fell to the ground.

“Oww…” Max rubbed her knees as she shifted onto her butt from her position on all fours.

“Jesus, watch where- I told you not to come, Max!”

She froze, with a combination of fear, anger and something she didn’t want to label anymore in her blood. Nathan held out a hand to help her up but he looked pretty scared himself. She didn’t take his hand, electing to push herself up off the ground instead, and glared at him with a finger pointed at his chest.

“You do not get to tell me what to do, Nathan Prescott. Do not _ever_ fucking talk to me again.”

“What the hell? What’s going on?”

She grabbed his wrist and dragged him into a quiet corner and had his back against the wall as she went off on him.

“You fucking LIED to me is what’s going on! I know _everything_ , okay? Fucking EVERYTHING!” She almost screamed at him, trying desperately not to draw attention to them as his face paled as white as a sheet.

“You what? How did you find out? There are cameras there, Max!”

“I know, you told me! I had to rewind to save my ass! But not that it matters since I’m your next target right? Who the fuck are you working for?”

His eyes widened, darting around the room and he looked absolutely petrified.

“Is this why you were being kinda nice this week? Like the bare minimum? I thought you were improving, I thought… you know what, it’s fucking stupid. I can’t believe I ever thought we might’ve been friends in some weird twisted way.”

“Friends…” Nathan’s eyes locked on something in the distance and Max made to turn her head to see where he was looking at, but then became extremely occupied when he grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her.

This kiss felt nothing like the sweet, high school lover’s kiss that Max gave Nathan in the alternate timeline. This one felt desperate, as if he wouldn’t ever see her again and was begging for one good memory with her that they could both remember for a lifetime. It felt like he was terrified of whatever was behind her and couldn’t expose her to the horror of it. She tried to squirm out of it a little, before he whispered between kisses, “Please, just go with it.”

“This is a bad idea,” she whispered back, “Please, just tell me what’s going on. You can trust me.” 

She reached up and gently wrapped her hands around his elbows and a sigh escaped her lips without her permission. A low moan rumbled in his throat as he deepened the kiss, running his tongue over the edges of her lips as if asking her permission and well, she wasn’t going to stop now. He spun them around so Max was now against the wall and moved his hands to her thighs, lifting her and wrapped her legs around his waist.

Max could barely believe this was happening. She’s a shy little hipster with a polaroid camera and she’s at a Vortex Club party, making out with Nathan Prescott and dressed up like Chloe. _Oh my god, Chloe._

As Nathan moved his focus onto her neck, her eyes flew open and she scanned what little she could see of the room with as much concentration as she could muster. Chloe was nowhere to be found and thankfully people were still either ignoring the corner they were occupying or were yet to notice them. This quickly dropped as a priority on the list as Nathan nipped a particularly sensitive spot below her jaw. She gasped and brushed her hands through his hair, pulling his head back enough to slip her own lips back onto his. Her own hair was hanging around her shoulders again, her borrowed hair tie long lost at that point.

“Nathan,” she breathed, “what’s going on? What are you hiding?”

“Don’t,” he growled, “not now."

“Okay,” she quickly agreed, capturing his lips again. She missed the furious steps heading in their direction.

“Max! What the _fuck_ is going on?” Chloe’s furious screaming had Max frozen, but Nathan just rolled his eyes and didn’t lose grip on Max’s waist.

“A good time, now fuck off."

Chloe grabbed his shoulder, turning him towards her and punched him in the nose. This made Max drop from her place on the wall and she fell flat on her ass as Nathan stumbled back into the area above her.

“Chloe, stop!” She quickly crawled out of the way before Nathan sat on her and stood up. Her lipstick was smudged all over her face and a bit down her neck from where Nathan was kissing her.

“Max, you’re going to defend this fuckin’ perv? He was assaulting you!”

“It’s not assault when I wanted it, Chloe.”

“You _what?_ ” Max heard both Chloe and Nathan say this incredulously, their eyes widening.

“I know he’s done bad things Chloe, and I know you have issues with people leaving you and I’m not, I will never leave you, but I really, _really_ fucking like him.”

_Oh my god, what have I done?_

The three of them stood in shock and silence as the party raged around them for a moment, before a microphone squeaked with feedback and Mr Jefferson called for the room’s attention, the three of them turning to face him.

“Hey everyone! I won’t take up too much time, but it is time to announce the winner of the Everyday Hero contest! There were some great entries, and I’m sad that some of you didn’t enter, but I guess we can’t change the past now, can we?” Chloe snorted derisively as the DJ passed him the envelope with the winner’s name in it.

“And the winner is… wow, what a surprise, it's Victoria Chase. Round of applause, everyone!”

Half-hearted applause filled the room as she took to the stage, blabbering on about how she was so honoured to receive the award. Max felt pretty insulted when she finished by dedicating the award to Kate, and clearly wasn’t alone as someone called out, “You suck, Victoria!”

Max felt a buzz in her pocket and took her phone out. A new text lit up the screen and, forgetting their prior argument, Nathan and Chloe leant over her shoulders to read it. She felt Nathan snake an arm around her waist as she read it aloud, “glad you got one last look at rachel, no one will ever find her again after im done.” 

“The burner phone…” Nathan whispered, his grip on her slacking a little, then tightened again. “We need to go, now. He’s going to hide her again.”

* * *

The trip to the junkyard was fast, as Nathan sped from the school in his truck. The girls sat along the bench next to him, Max between the two, resting her hand on his upper thigh absentmindedly. He glanced down at it every few seconds, then at Chloe who was staring out the window with her arms crossed, and back to the road. They argued for nearly ten minutes about whose car to take that Max eventually rewound and decided for them.

The truck skidded up to the gate, Chloe barely waiting for it to stop as she hopped out and ran for Rachel. Max slid out after her, not stopping even when Nathan called for her to wait up. She switched on her phone light and ran after Chloe. She caught up, and they came to a stop where Rachel was buried and started digging.

“Oh thank god, she’s still here,” Chloe sighed with relief. Max stood up, trying to catch her breath as she replied, “Don’t look, Chloe.” She stumbled back, bumping into a body who wrapped their arm around her waist tightly and stuck someth- a needle, a _needle_ into her neck. She knew by the immediate sting she felt and the cool substance she felt inject into her neck. The person dropped the needle behind them, wrapping their other arm around her and lowered her to the ground as she stumbled and tried to fight against them, feeling weaker by the second.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, he made me do it, please forgive me…” she heard them whisper. It felt so familiar and inviting that she relaxed into them. She was laid on the ground, her eyes closed, and on the border of passing out when she heard them say, “She doesn’t know. She never suspected a thing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact, all three (3) times i have been kissed were not great experiences and so my kissing knowledge all comes from dramione fics so enjoy that!! totally not projecting what i want someone to do to me there!!  
> also yes v sad rachel was discovered


End file.
